Who I really am
by QueenPapal
Summary: When the Third accidently gives Naruto a clue about his mother, Naruto decides to do a bit of research. What he finds, however, shocks him. Watch as Naruto tries to live a life that would make both his parents proud.
1. Chapter 1

'You act so much like your mother. You definitely have the Habanero's personality.'

Naruto clearly remembered hearing him say that while they were walking to the ramen stand one cloudy day. He wasn't sure if the old man was actually talking to Naruto or himself. It had actually seemed like the Third Hokage was talking to himself, since he quickly changed the subject to what kind of ramen Naruto wanted. Naruto didn't give any sign that he had heard what the old man had said. The young boy had simply bounced up and down a bit and started babbling on and on about his favorite food, deciding that the piece of information he had just received could wait for a bit. So he stored it at the back of his mind for future use.

Now, while simply laying in his bed, he was thinking about it again. It just seemed to randomly pop into his mind. The old man had given him a clue about his family, about his mother. He had recently started at the Konoha ninja academy and he was already taking up the position of class clown due to the lack of acknowledgment. He didn't pay attention in class at all and got the worst grades of the entire class as result. But he didn't care, he was going to be the Hokage one day.

There was only one lesson where he had given his full attention and actually listened: The history of the past Hokages.

He had to admit, hearing the tales of each of the different Hokages was very cool, but his favorite had always been the Yondaime Hokage. After all, the Yondaime was the one to defeat the Nine-tailed fox and save the entire village from its terror.

He vaguely remembered reading about the 'Habanero' somewhere too, but he just could not, for the life of him, remember where.

The whiskered child sat up in the bed of his tiny, messy apartment. He knew where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do.

...

The sun slowly raised its head over the blue mountains, its bright rays mercilessly cutting through the curtain of night that had settled over Konoha.

Naruto stepped out of his apartment building and took a deeply inhaling the fresh air, allowing the scent of the surrounding forest to invade his nose. He then set off to his desired location. The Village Library.

It wasn't really one of his favorite places. The library too was full of people that glared and whispered words of hate as he passed by. Like everyone else, they thought he was oblivious to it and thought he was too stupid to see what was going on. Like everyone else, they were wrong.

Naruto knew he wasn't the smartest person in the village, but he was no idiot either. He saw the anger and pure hatred in their eyes whenever they looked at him. He heard the nearly silent whispers of 'Monster' and 'Demon' that inevitably followed him where ever he went.

No, Naruto certainly wasn't an idiot. He just preferred to act like it. 'Smile, it makes your enemies angry.' And that's exactly what he did every single day.

Naruto finally reached the old building. He quickly climbed the cement steps and headed straight for the door.

The library was open 24/7 in case any of the village ninja needed important information at even late, or very early, hours. Naruto walked in and immediately notice how cold the inside of the library was in comparison to the warm air outside.

"Excuse me, do you need help?" a woman asked kindly from behind him. Naruto quickly turned around and grinned at the woman. "Yeah, I kinda do!" he cried happily, before noticing the way her eyes narrowed at him as she scrutinized him and his every movement. She was slightly trembling and her amber orbs held that look he was so used to.

"Out. Now!" the woman said loudly, causing Naruto to flinch just a bit. "But I..." Naruto looked at her eyes more carefully. Hatred mixed with pain and washed around in her teary eyes and suddenly Naruto found himself feeling bad for the woman, even feeling a bit guilty. Naruto grinned brightly at her. "Sure, lady!" he said as he raced out of the library, turning his head back once to find the woman on her knees, tears staining her lovely face. He silently wondered what he had done to her to make her so miserable at the mere sight of him.

Naruto was never one to give up easily. Instead of just leaving like he'd been told to, he tried to find another way in. One that didn't make women cry. Naruto saw a window that would take him into the library, but he couldn't be sure exactly where in that huge library he would be. Still, it was at least worth a shot.

The window was too high for him to reach on his own and he couldn't ask anyone to help him get in. Naruto looked around him. 'Not like there's anyone to ask, though.' he thought as he noticed how empty the area was. Naruto quickly looked around for something he could use to reach the window, something to stand on. He saw a wooden crate by a dumpster for a small restaurant and quickly ran off to grab it before carrying it over to the spot beneath the window. It was still going to be too high for him. Naruto huffed in annoyance before something caught his eye.

There on the sidewalk was a kunai. A shiny, metal throwing knife. Naruto suddenly got an idea as he ran over to the kunai and carefully picked it up. It wasn't like the wooden ones they were practicing with in class. It was an ACTUAL kunai made of ACTUAL metal and meant to kill and ACTUAL person, not a wooden dummy. Naruto walked back over to the library and stood on top of the crate. He quickly searched the gaps between the bricks, trying to find one that would be big enough.

He finally found one that was about as high as his stomach if he stood on the crate. He carefully inserted the kunai until only its handle was still visible and checked that it was sturdy enough before very carefully lifting one leg and putting his foot on the handle of the kunai, which was still protruding from the wall.

Carefully climbing onto the makeshift steppingstone, he managed to stand on the kunai with one foot, leaving the other to dangle in the air. He lifted one arm up to try and reach the slightly opened window, but it was still just out of his reach. Naruto bent his knee just a bit and jumped off of the kunai. He managed to just barely grab onto the windowpane and used all his strength to pull himself up and through the window. He fell through the window, expecting to hit the ground on the other side, but instead he landed face first on a soft, red loveseat that had been conveniently placed right beneath the window.

Naruto sneezed a few times as dust rose off of the seat-cushions and into the air. He quickly got off of the chair and tried to look around. He was in a room that wasn't really big or small. The room was completely engulfed in darkness, except for the bit of light entering through the small window. On the opposite side of the room was a simple wooden door and next to it, on the wall, was a light switch. Naruto quickly crossed the room and switched the light on before looking around. The plain white walls were lined with dark wooden shelves that contained a variety of books and scrolls of different shapes and sizes. Naruto slowly browsed through the content of the shelves, finding himself amazed at, well, everything. And judging by the thick layer of dust covering everything he assumed there hadn't been anyone in the room for a very long time - not even just to clean.

There were scrolls on sealing, chakra, chakra control... There were even a bunch of scrolls containing special and complex jutsus and abilities. There were scrolls on just about anything and EVERYTHING.

Naruto stopped himself from getting too absorbed in all the knowledge that surrounded him. He still had a mission to complete here in the library. He let his normal, foxy grin slide onto his face as he grabbed the dusty doorknob and started to twist it gently. Naruto silently opened the door and crept into the area of the library that was open to the general public.

Not all the librarians had issues with him, though. One of them was even like an older sister to him. It was just very unlucky that she wasn't there today, she would've helped him get the books he wanted.

Naruto was glad he still remembered exactly where those books were. Ameko had led him there many times to get him his books. He silently thanked her for it as he padded through the rows and rows of bookshelves until he finally reached his destination. He found himself feeling very grateful at the red carpet that covered the wooden floors. It just made sneaking around that much easier.

He quickly grabbed all the books he wanted, silently cheering at the fact that he could actually reach all of them, before trying to hurry back to where he had entered without getting lost in the maze of wooden bookshelves.

...

Naruto sighed in relief as he entered his apartment. After spending the whole day trying to escape the library after getting lost in there and nearly running into those nasty librarians twice, it was nice to be back. There was a real thrill to what he had just done. Adrenaline, from almost getting caught those two times, pumped through his veins and Naruto decided that it was a feeling he liked very much. It was exciting, fun even.

Naruto quickly went to drop the stack library books on his unmade bed before heading into his tiny kitchen for some dinner - instant ramen.

"Hmm... What type of ramen do I want?" Naruto asked himself as he held up two different cups of instant ramen. "Ah, it doesn't really matter. It's ramen!"

Naruto poured the boiling-hot water into the cup of instant ramen that he chose. "Now...what to do for three whole minutes?" Naruto wondered with a small sigh as he scratched the back of his head. It was obvious that the whiskered boy really, REALLY didn't like waiting for ramen.

After quickly finishing his 'delicious' dinner and taking a cold shower, since he didn't have any warm water in his apartment, he decided to get started on reading through the books.

"AHA! I found her!" the blonde yelled a few hours later as he punched his fist in the air in triumph. "Now, let's see...why is she in a book about the Hokages..."


	2. Chapter 2

I sincerely apologise for the shortness of the chapter and the terrible quality. I will try my best to make the next chapter better. please let me know what you think.

* * *

Naruto frowned heavily as he gazed up at the ceiling of his apartment. He felt a bit bad for what he had done earlier today. Maybe screaming at the old man wasn't really a very bright idea...

...

"OLD MAN HOKAGE!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs as he entered the Hokage tower, not paying any attention to the glares he was receiving. The receptionist ignored him completely, opting to continue finishing the mountain of paperwork she had yet to complete. "Hey, I need to go talk with the ol...the Hokage!" Naruto yelled at her as he came to a halt at her desk. The receptionist regarded him with cold eyes. "He's busy, he's in a meeting!" she snapped while pushing her glasses back up her nose. Naruto ignored her completely, walking straight past her toward the stairs. "Hey! The Hokage is in a meeting! You can't just-" "Like I care!" Naruto yelled back at her as he marched up the stairs.

The doors of the Hokage's office burst open, revealing a pissed off Naruto Uzumaki standing on the other side. The team of ANBU, that were currently discussing an upcoming infiltration mission with the Hokage, tensed as they recognized the Kyuubi jailer. The Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, took notice of the look in the young boy's eyes and immediately dismissed the ANBU. "But Hokage-sama, he's-" the man in the crow mask was immediately silenced by a sharp look from Sarutobi - one that promised pain if the man said even one word more. The man quickly rejoined his team outside the office, closing the large wooden double doors as he left.

Hiruzen turned to Naruto, his face kind yet serious. It was clear that Naruto was more than just a little bit upset and wasn't here to play games. "Naruto, how can I help you?" he asked kindly. Naruto gave a growl. "Why?" the boy asked. Hiruzen furrowed his brows. "Why what, Naruto?" he asked, hoping to get some kind of clue as to what the boy was talking about. "Why didn't you tell me...that...that my FATHER was FOURTH HOKAGE?!" the enraged fox boy yelled out. Hiruzen's eyes widened before his face turned serious. "Naruto...keep quiet about that," he warned. Naruto continued to glare murderously at him. Hiruzen sighed heavily. He knew the boy would find out eventually, he just didn't expect it to be so soon. "Naruto...your father was a great man, a POWERFUL man, with many enemies. And your mother, well, she was no weakling...and I doubt she didn't make fun of or purposely annoy her enemies. If those enemies of your parents were to find out who are, they would stop at nothing to find you and, most likely, kill you," Hiruzen explained calmly.

"Then why didn't you at least tell ME?" Naruto asked. He understood not telling anyone else, but why not him? If he knew then he could be more prepared, could protect himself. No, he couldn't find any reasons not to tell him. It made no sense.

"That is...there IS a reason Naruto, but I don't want to tell you that reason just yet," Hiruzen said with a sigh. Naruto felt himself bristle. "WHY NOT!" he yelled. Hiruzen simply closed his eyes as Naruto continued to rant on and on about how unfair it was. "Naruto," the boy turned his head to Hiruzen, who was smiling. "I will tell you eventually, I promise, but for now...it's crucial that you don't know," he told the boy. Naruto sighed and slumped his shoulders. He had really hoped for an answer. "What...what were they like?" Naruto asked, azure eyes glued to the floor. Hiruzen sat back in his chair, closing his eyes in thought. "Your parents were brave people. Your mother was a short tempered, but good woman. She was friendly, kind woman. She was loud and refused to be overlooked...and she loved you very much Naruto," Hiruzen answered honestly.

Naruto felt his mouth become dry. 'Short tempered,friendly, loud...refused to be overlooked?' he echoed in his thoughts. "And my father?" Naruto asked excitedly. Hiruzen smiled at the boy. "Your father was a smart and powerful shinobi and was almost the complete opposite of your mother - calm, collected...respectful," Hiruzen muttered bitterly at the memory of Kushina's many pranks. "He was very determined - he never gave up, no matter what. He was driven and extremely devoted to both your mother and you."

'Determined, smart, driven and devoted?...'

Naruto frowned a bit. His father was nothing like his mother. His mother was nothing like his father. Naruto wondered how they even got along...

...

He had many of his mothers traits, Naruto realized as he lay in his dark room, curled up in his bed. He barely even showed any of his fathers traits, except for his appearance. Or did he? Naruto stared once more at the blank ceiling, wondering if his parents were proud of him. His mother probably was, but what about his father? Would his father have been proud of him as well? Naruto sighed. He wasn't really too sure about that.

'What if...maybe I can be a person they'd both be proud of...'

But how? How would he do that?

'Brave, friendly, refused to be overlooked. Determined, smart, driven and devoted.'

Naruto rolled onto his side.

'Brave, friendly, refused to be overlooked. Determined, smart, driven and devoted.'

Maybe...he could be like them. Show everyone who he is through actions rather than words.

'Brave, friendly, refused to be overlooked. Determined, smart, driven and devoted.'

Be who his parents would've wanted him to be. Be who they were.

'Brave, friendly, refused to be overlooked. Determined, smart, driven and devoted.'

Be himself.


End file.
